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Pressure Cooker Anko (Red Bean Paste)

Delicious and easy anko recipe (red bean paste) prepared in a pressure cooker in a few easy steps. Use it as filling in your favorite Japanese sweets and desserts!

In Japan, there are all kinds of sweets and snacks everywhere, from convenience stores to busy stations and to even below department stores. You can find an assortment of Japanese and Western cookies, cakes, snacks, and desserts.

Speaking of Japanese sweets, the most popular fillings in them is anko (sweet red bean paste). I would describe its popularity similar to chocolate for Western desserts.

Now making it is very easy, but cooking it in traditional stove-top way requires your time and undivided attention. The amount of water in the pot has to be just right above the azuki beans while cooking, so you need to stay in the kitchen to keep an eye on it (this is a well-known “proper” method).

I’ve loved anko all my life and I’m quite obsessed with it. But even such a fanatic myself, I’ve only made it at home on special occasions and relied on overly-sweet premade ones from Japanese grocery stores to save time.

But not any more with my Instant Pot! So today I want to show you my favorite way to make homemade anko.

Making Anko in Pressure Cooker

So, the first step to making anko easier is to speed up the processs. Unfortunately, this will require a pressure cooker. I know, a pressure cooker is not a gadget that everyone has in the kitchen and I did’t own one myself until last year. If you don’t own a pressure cooker, you can still make delicious homemade anko on the stove top (recipe here). Many of my readers really love this stove top recipe!

Why use a Pressure Cooker then? It’s simple; 1) it cooks fast, 2) does a great job, and 3) saves YOU lots of time. If you want to learn more about what a pressure cooker does and all the details, this article from the Kitchn summarizes it well.

What pressure cooker do I use? I’ve been using this Instant Pot and I love it. Hopefully I’ll be able to convince you how great it is (and I’m not getting compensated to promote it!).

The Instant Pot is a 7-in-1 Multi-Functional Cooker. It’s a pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice maker/porridge maker, steamer, sauté/browning, yogurt maker, and warmer in one machine. I only use the pressure cooker and slow cooker functions. And unlike old-fashion pressure cooker, there is no hissing sound and it’s not scary at all to use and operate.

Besides cooking beans, it is a total life saver when you want to cook meat in less than 30 minutes. Even though it’s a short time, the tender meat falls off the bones! I usually switch on before heading to kids’ activities and when we come home, the dinner is ready! I didn’t even have to be in the kitchen!

Three Simple Ingredients for Anko

What do you need for this recipe? It’s very simple, all you need is azuki beans, sugar, and salt. You can find azuki beans in Japanese grocery stores, Asian grocery stores, health food stores, or Amazon.

As for the amount of sugar that goes into this recipe, I’d say it is similar to standard Japanese anko flavor. Not overly sweet, but I would not consider it as healthy because of how much sugar it contains. So please adjust the amount of sugar that goes into the anko yourself, based on what type of sweets you’re making.

Why do we put salt? Instead of adding more sugar, a pinch of salt can actually enhance the sweetness even more without making it salty.

Chunky or Fine Red Bean Paste

If you’re familiar with Japanese sweets, red bean paste generally comes in two types of texture: chunky and fine.

The chunky red bean paste is called Tsubuan (粒あん) and the red bean paste with fine smooth texture is Koshian (こしあん).

Koshian is used more often as filling but it’s really up to your preference. Traditionally, to make the smooth silky fine texture, cooked and sweetened azuki bean mixture is pressed into fine mesh sieve to separate the bean skins.

To save time (today theme is all about saving time!), we use a food processor or blender to skip the tedious process (my mom may not agree with me…). It might not be as silky and smooth, but I think it’s pretty good (IMHO).

Making anko in a pressure cooker is super easy and simple and cut down on cooking time. The best part though is that homade anko tastes SO GOOOOOD!

I hope you enjoy making Pressure Cooker Anko recipe! If you try it, don’t forget to share your picture on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter with #JustOneCookbook. Thank you so much for reading, and till next time!

Giveaway Time!

Today I’m partnering with Akazuki Japanese Goods Shop to give away one (1) $50 gift card to shop at Akazuki.com and one (1) Blueline Tokoname Teapot from Akazuki shop. This giveaway contest is open to everyone worldwide. Please click here to enter!

Put the 300 g (1 ½ cup) azuki beans in a strainer and place it inside a large bowl. Rinse the azuki beans in running water until water is clear. Discard any pieces that are floating. Drain water.

Transfer the beans to the Instant Pot and add 1200 ml (5 cups) of water to your pressure cooker.

Cover and lock the lid of your pressure cooker. If you’re using an Instant Pot, turn it on and press the “Bean/Chili” button. Press the “minus” button to decrease the cooking time from the default 35-minute cooking time to 25 minutes.

Before you walk away, make sure the steam release handle points at “sealing” and not “venting”.

If you’re using a stove-top pressure cooker, cook on high heat until high pressure is reached. Then reduce the heat to low to maintain the pressure for about 20 minutes.

When it’s done cooking, the Instant Pot will switch automatically to “Keep Warm” mode. Let the pressure slowly release by itself for 15-20 minutes. If you are using a stove-top pressure cooker, remove the pot from the heat, and let the pressure release naturally. Before opening the lid, turn the steam release handle to vent and release any leftover pressure.

Scoop the foam on the surface and discard (if you prefer more refined taste).

Then drain the azuki beans through a fine sieve.

Put the azuki beans back in the Instant Pot and add the sugar. Press the “Saute” button and set for “Low” option.

Stir the azuki beans with a wooden spoon. When sugar has completely melted, add the salt. If you’re not using an Instant Pot, cook on medium low to medium heat.

For Koshian (fine red bean paste)

Continue cooking until you can draw a line in the azuki bean mixture with the wooden spatula and see the bottom of the pot for 1 second (see Note). Then turn off the Instant Pot and take out the inner bowl from the Instant Pot and let the mixture cool for 5-10 minutes (See Note). The mixture will thicken more as it cools down.

Transfer the warm azuki beans into the food processor or blender. I use a 14 cup food processor so the mixture will all fit at once; otherwise blend in 2-3 smaller batches. If you prefer “proper” method, use a very fine mesh strainer and press the mixture with the wooden spoon. The azuki bean skins will be separated and you will get more refined koshian.

Run the food processor or blender until the mixture becomes smooth texture. If it’s too soft, don’t worry. It will dehydrate and become even more thicken till the paste is completely cooled.

Transfer to an airtight container. When it’s cooled and thickened more, it’s ready to use. If you don’t use it right away, cover and store in the fridge for 1 week and in the freezer for up to 2 months.

I recommend dividing into 100 grams of anko paste in individual plastic wraps and put them in a big freezer bag for storage.

For Tsubuan (chunky red bean paste)

Continue cooking until you draw a line in the azuki bean mixture with the wooden spatula and see the bottom of the pot for 2 second. Then turn off the Instant Pot and transfer the mixture to a baking sheet (or flat rimmed plate) to let it cool.

When it’s cooled and thickened more, it’s ready to use. If you don’t use it right away, transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for 1 week and in the freezer for up to a month. I also recommend diving into 100 grams of anko paste in each plastic wrap and put it in a big freezer bag.

To make Koshian (fine), you will need the same weight of sugar and azuki beans (300 grams azuki beans : 300 grams sugar).

To make Tsubuan (chunky), you will need about 80% of sugar compared to Koshian (300 grams azuki beans : 240 grams sugar).

For Koshian (fine red bean paste), you will stop cooking the azuki beans earlier than when you cook for Tsubuan (coaster red bean paste), this is because you will need some liquid in order to properly mix the azuki beans with the food processor.

If you put hot liquid in the food processor or blender, as it purees, the liquid may start coming out the edges of the food processor or the built up steam can actually blow the lid off the blender. To prevent this from happening, it’s best to let the liquid cool for a few minutes before pureeing, fill the food processor or blender up only half way, work in batches and hold a towel over the lid when pureeing.

Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.

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This looks great! Much easier in a pressure cooker. I don’t have a pressure cooker, and have been wondering whether I should get one. Still haven’t decided, but you’ve pushed me closer. 🙂 Good post — thanks.

Thank you for this great recipe! Last week I saw ‘An’ by Naomi Kawase, have you seen it? I warmly recommend this movie, not just because of the beans och the japanese culinary art in it, it’s really a beautiful movie. I’m wondering now if cooking the anko would work with a (pressure) rice cooker, which cook mode would I have to use?

I don´t know if I can write here on your blogg what brand of rice cooker it is but it uses pressure to cook the rice for sure, and it has different cook modes, for rice it would be glutinous, turbo, brown, sushi, porridge, mixed, nutritious, then it also has multigrain, cake, dough fermentation, and it also has a multicook mode – this one I guess would be the pressure cooker mode? Maybe I just have to try this with your recipe and see what it comes out…

You’re free to mention the product name here. 🙂 Instant Pot has rice cooking function too, but I always use my Zojirushi rice cooker (which has sushi, porridge, mixed mode). Sounds like your rice cooker is very fancy! Yeah if it works as a pressure cooker, I’d say why not? But please check the manual just in case. It might say “do not put beans”…. haha. 😀

Ok, if you don’t mind, it’s a rice cooker Cuckoo, yes it’s very fancy and I use it a lot not only for cooking the rice, because of all the other modes that work as good as rice cooking (just rice comes out perfect and I really enjoy trying japanese rice varietes!) And yes, I’m sure it works using pressure. I guess I will give it a try and make anko following your recipe! Thank you Nami, best regards!

Thank you for sharing this. I always love anko but it’s too time consuming to make. Finally i can used my pressure cooker for something I like. It’s quite different from Instant Pot, but I can always try to adjust it.

This is how I’ve been anko for some time now – I took your stovetop recipe and make it in the pressure cooker instead (as it requires much less effort) and it turns out wonderful! I do advise that you soak the beans overnight and wash them before pressure cooking, if you have the time. This cuts down on time needed to cook even further. Otherwise, perfect! I use this anko for taiyaki and dorayaki, thank you Nami!

Hi Sneha! That’s awesome! I always wanted to get a (stovetop) pressure cooker, but now I finally have an electric one and it’s even better! So happy with the pressure cooker. You’re right about “less effort”. It’s so easy now to make anko! I do soak on the regular method, but I read in online sites that it’s almost same as soaking or non-soaking, so to make it “extreme quick and easy recipe”, I omitted the extra step. I think 25 minute of pressure cooking will do, but if it’s for 15 mins, maybe soaking overnight will help soften the skin. 🙂 Thank you for your tip!!

I have been thinking about how much I’d love to figure out how to use a pressure cooker because I’ve seen a lot of testimonials and the quick-cooking for meat is a huge draw. I love how you can make the red bean paste in it! I was just opening up a can of sweetened red bean paste the other day for a green tea roll cake and I was thinking how neat it would be to know how to make homemade! This looks wonderful. Your family is so lucky to be able to enjoy this with you!

I was looking into purchasing an Instant Pot & noticed this recall alert online that affects the bluetooth model only: “Instant Pot SMART-60 recall (purchased before June 1, 2015. IP-DUO, IP-LUX models Not affected)”. Just wanted to alert everyone out there if you have the SMART model of the instant pot! I am still going to purchase one so I can try the recipes for An and for other things!

I have been eyeing buying an Instant Pot for a while… my husband is afraid it will explode… but I think it’s much safer than the stove top pots that I am also afraid. of. 🙂 Seeing you make this red bean paste so easily makes me want to just do it and buy one today. 🙂

Fabulous post Nami! Every time I see red bean paste listing as an ingredient, I try it. Like you, I’m a fanatic about it. It’s wonderful having such a detailed tutorial on how to make it. Thanks! Wow – pressure cookers have come a long way. I’m still using the one I got as a wedding present over 40 years ago. It’s got a little rocker on the top. The speed of the rock indicates high or low pressure. Not very scientific nor exact, but it works. 🙂

Hello, Nami-san. What I’d like to ask is that, for the Koshian recipe, will it be fine if I lower the amount of sugar from 100% to, like, 60-70%? I have a sweet tooth, but tell myself ought to consume less sugar for better health 🙂 Thanks in advance for responding to my question!

Hi Britney! I totally understand – anko is sweet, especially the premade ones we buy from the store. However, sugar plays very important role in anko making, so don’t reduce too much. The right amount of sugar will keep the anko from hardening, so try from 70%? Let me know how it goes if you try lower sugar amount. 🙂

Hi Asl! I don’t own a crock pot, but yes you can make it with a slow cooker. Check on the bean setting for your crockpot, and once it’s done, make sure the doneness of the beans by pressing the beans between your fingers. If it’s nicely smushed, you’re ready for Step 7. Does the slow cooker has “saute” mode? If not, you will need to cook further in a pot over stove.

I haven’t got a pressure cooker but I have a simple rice cooker instead. But It only has two functions: cook and keep warm. So I was wondering if I could use this to use this cooking method with or if I need to use the stoove top method instead.

Hi Christi! Rice cooker and pressure cooker don’t operate the same, so you can’t replace one another. It requires a longer time to cook azuki beans and rice cooker may not work for cooking azuki beans (can rice cooker can cook for hours?). I recommend my stovetop recipe. 🙂

Thanks for all your wonderful recipes! My Son really loves Anko and i am hoping to make it at home with less or alternatives to sugar…I was wondering if you’ve tried replacing sugar with any other alternatives like maple syrup or honey? 🙂 thanks

Hi Nami, Thanks for the recipe. I have a question though. This method of cooking I assumed you wouldn’t have to soak the beans overnight? B/c I soaked my beans already…..:( so if I use the IP how minutes do you suggest? Thanks again.

Hi, I would really like to try this recipe. I have the beans and I even have the Instant pot! 🙂 I hate when people ask questions like Can I replace this with this…? but it’s my turn this time. I try to avoid sugar. I know sugar is traditional but is there a recipe using let’s say honey?

Hi Zaneta! Haha I know what you mean. Some ingredients can’t be substituted because it plays an important role. And this recipe also falls in that category. Sugar in this recipe is important. Keep the anko smooth and tender instead of rock hard, and it acts as preservative. We often use Mizuame (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mizuame) but that’s really hard to find outside Japan. So…I’d say you’ll need sugar to make this recipe. You can reduce only slightly, but it can’t be a lot due to above reason. Hope this helps!

Hi Amy! I used a short-cut method to make koshian (fine anko). Traditionally, you have to use a sieve to remove the skin. Maybe the another blog might use a proper method?

A few things to point out. When the anko cools down completely, the color will be slightly darker than what you see above (I didn’t take the picture).

Usually, after removing from the sieve, you cook the mashed beans and add sugar. During that time, color will get darker. We call this process “neru 練る”. In my short cut recipe, I added sugar, pureed, and finished the process. Adding sugar will turn the color of anko.

What else… in general, koshian’s color is lighter, but I agree mine can be lighter than store bought one too. The images of my koshian is edited so it’s not 100% true color, but definitely lighter than tsubuan (coarse).

Gotcha. I’m sure the cooking with sugar part adds some caramelisation. Also, do you ever try making this with brown sugar? I usually use Mexican raw cane syrup (those brown cones called panela/pilloncillo).

Luckily I recently got a pressure cooker to review. Also, I found that our local Whole Foods has the azuki beans, so I won’t have to wait until we make a run to Mitsuwa Marketplace (about 75 minutes drive one way). I love red bean paste. I make taiyaki, although my pan is getting pretty old and the batter is starting to stick. I’ll have to try making my own red bean paste for my taiyaki. I’m sure it’ll be better than the prepackaged stuff.